Traveler: The Epic of Link
by Gideon Raines
Summary: What if Link was never strong enough to defeat Demise on his own? Hylia suggests one last desperate plan. The original Link must travel through the annals of time, gathering every great hero to destroy the Demon King forever, ending all evil...but with every action in the timeline, a change is made. Can Link defeat Demise, and prevent a massive collapse of space and time?


**Chapter 1: Heroes Fade**

"Ah, so you've decided to meet your end in battle after all? It pleases me greatly to see such misplaced valor, human."

Link eyed his surroundings, admiring the mystic beauty of the battlefield Demise created. The Demon King slowly tilted his face towards the hero.

"Take a moment to appreciate your surroundings, for where we stand shall serve as your tomb for eternity." Link's ironclad stare faltered slightly at the unnerving words. Demise ominously sauntered in a wide semi-circle around his opponent.

"The hate for the gods that has boiled in my veins…you will taste all of it in the bite of my blade." Demise stopped, turning his scarred face towards Link.

"The only question left is how long you will manage to remain standing before I take your life." Link flinched at the harsh proclamation.

"…and when you do fall, know that your world and everything in it is mine to dominate, MINE to subjugate, and MINE TO RULE!" Demise readied his blade, as did Link.

"When I finish with you, take solace in knowing your friends and kin will soon follow, as I wipe all who oppose me off the face of the planet!"

The sun that lit the false world quickly faded, blotted out by the darkest of clouds. Lightning and wind kissed the battlegrounds in the midst of a violent celestial dance.

"…it won't be long now. At last, the almighty power I have sought for millennia…I will take the Triforce for my own…and the world shall be under my foot until the end of time!"

Demise impaled the atmosphere with his great ebony sword, drawing lightning into the weapon. Link stepped back in uncertainty.

"_What's this…?"_ Link wondered as the demon blade lowered, its mighty crosshairs aimed directly at him.

"Witness the supremacy of a GOD!" lightning pirouetted across the liquid surface of the plane. The hero evaded the bolt with his superhuman alertness, only receiving a minor gash to his left cheek.

"_I see…" _Link remained knelt down, contemplating his next move. He reached into his quiver and readied his bow.

Link fired a barrage of blazing arrows towards Demise, all of which were deflected by one swing of the demon's weapon. Link used the brief blind spot of Demise's sword to nimbly position himself behind the beast. He reached until he felt an unpleasant chill. Link swiftly shot the ice arrow towards his foe's feet, causing Demise to slip and collapse to his knees.

"What is this impertinence...?" Demise grinded his teeth in sheer rage, losing sight of the hero once again. Link drove the Master Sword into the ground, unsheathing the whip on the opposite side of his belt. He expertly rolled close enough to Demise to seize the demon's leg with the whip, causing Demise to tumble head first into the liquid.

"_This is it…" _Link tossed a bomb skillfully onto Demise's back. The area lit up with the intense fiery detonation. The hero sprinted through the smoke, but was halted.

"AGHH!" Link crashed into the ground, sliding a dozen feet before finally ceasing.

"Foolish boy…" Demise's monstrously dark voice echoed into Link's ears. The Demon Sword pulsated with electricity, turning the terrain into a deadly shock trap. The hero's vision began to fail as blooded leaked from his nose and ears.

"For the crime of unprecedented impudence towards a GOD…I will stomp you out of existence like the insignificant bottom dwelling insect you TRULY ARE!" Demise raised his heel.

Link quickly thrust his hand into one of his twin claw-shots, aiming for the patch of ice he created moments before.

"NOT SO FAST!" but Demise was not quick enough to stop Link before he rocketed towards the icy surface several meters away, though the demon did manage to stomp on the Master Sword, separating it from the wielder.

Link tried desperately to rise to his feet, but to no avail. Demise marched towards the heavily wounded hero, Demon Sword in hand. Lightning blasted the surface all around the combatants.

"_An insect…" _Link smiled. The compact flying beetle he had obtained through many previous trials was still in his bag.

Link pulled out his last bomb and placed it in between the beetle's jaws. He sent the golden insect on its way. Demise glanced at the tiny weapon with amusement, unknowing of what was to come. Link gazed at the demon.

"Boom…" Demise's face twisted in confusion, not realizing what the hero meant until it was too late. Another massive explosion engulfed the evil king, invoking an earth-shaking roar of pain.

Link finally inched to his feet, stumbling towards the Master Sword. His eyes threatened to fall into the dark edges in his peripheral vision. His shield weighed heavily on his back, slowing Link to a snail's pace, but eventually, the hero was upon his weapon.

"It's over…" Link reached down to re-sheath the sword. He heard a subtle whisper flutter through the wind.

"How many…times…must I show you…I am invincible…pathetic pawn of Hylia!" Link turned towards the voice in utter shock. The smoke decayed to reveal an untouched Demise, sword drawn back.

"Time after time…you weak inconsequential worms have tried to seal me away…only to fail over and over! WHAT MAKES YOU THINK THIS WAS TO BE THE EXCEPTION?!" Demise's rage grew into a physical aura surrounding his form.

"How does it feel to realize…your efforts have been trivial from the very beginning…but…no human before you has battled so…honorably." lightning blasted into the large blade as Demise twirled it about.

"I will make sure to reserve a place in MY history texts…for the very first hero to fall by my hands!" Demise heaved the massive blade towards Link from the length of the battlefield, much to the heroes shock.

"_Well then…what now?" _the bladed hurdled towards Link at an unbelievable velocity. His shield would be utterly worthless against the spinning executioner, destined to end his life.

"_Link…" _the hero heard a familiar voice whisper in his mind. Time seemed to slow as the blade inched closer and closer to its target.

"_We…can still stop him…"_ Hylia's mortal voice echoed in his extraordinarily ears. Space began to warp around Link's figure, as well as the Master Sword within his grasp.

"_All seems…lost…I could not defeat the demon…he is immortal…" _Link responded to the Goddess's peaceful voice.

"_No my love…he is not…though destiny has made it clear that he cannot be defeated by one…" _the sword completely ceased on its mission to decapitate the hero. In fact, time itself stopped as the conversation continued.

"_But…if more than one were to battle the demon…he could be defeated…" _

"_Who else would be strong…and brave enough to battle alongside me?" _Link retorted in confusion. The Goddess paused before giving her answer.

"_Well…the answer would be…you. The Master Sword is much more powerful than you realize love…combined with my power, it is capable of achieving almost anything imaginable."_

"_Me? I don't understand Hylia…how?" _Link became curious.

"_You see…many paradoxes exist…in the fabric of time…for instance in one paradox a world exists where you defeated Demise…and he places a curse on both of us…"_

"_I understand the paradoxes…but a curse?" _Link questioned.

"_Yes…our descendants will be cursed to battle the descendants of Demise for all eternity…"_

"_I see…I think I understand…the Master Sword…can travel through time?"_

"_Not only time…but space as well. It can travel through dimensions, paradoxes…any world that exists or will ever exist…" _Hylia sighed.

"_But…you can only travel a limited number of times…and what's more…with every change made in the celestial timeline…you destroy what that particular descendant would eventually become…" _

"_I see…but is this the only way to completely destroy this timeline?" _Link hopefully questioned the Goddess.

"_If you come back…and defeat this Demise, destined to destroy the world…this paradox will cease to exist…at least creating a world where people can survive…but it will not stop the calamities brought on by the demon's curse…" _Hylia sighed.

"_Then…this is the only way…" _Link answered with confidence.

"_Then your mind is made up…I shall propel you 5,000 years into the future…into the Historia…to the only Link that can control time as well…"_

"_Very well…what will become of you Hylia?"_

"_The power I exert here…will plunge me into an eon-long slumber…when I wake…I will be mortal…I will become the princess of a future great kingdom…Zelda."_

Hylia's power began to fade as the conversation ended. Time and space pleated around the hero, revealing the inner workings of the universe, and Hylia. The hero and goddess drifted towards each other like leaves lost in a storm.

"_Go Link…to the hero of time…the world is depending on you…" _Hylia's innocent face floated into Link's, lightly kissing his cheek.

"_I will guide you to the gate…" _ the two soared hand in hand through the area outside of the universe, glancing at future historic events.

Link saw a king and a boy in a green tunic and a strange cap. Hylia refused to look at the bloody history, but the hero's inquisitive nature prevented him from looking away. He witnessed four figures, with one soul, attempting to sift through the chaos of the new kingdom. A brutal and unforgiving war could be seen as the goddess slowed her pace. One last glance at the history showed a young woman with a baby, fleeing the flames of war.

"_This…is it. I…I have to go back to the past…my power is fading…" _the goddess squeezed Link's hand one last time before slowly floating backwards toward Demise.

"_Remember love…you can only travel three times…if you fail to gather the other heroes before your time is up…the battle is lost…I'll be waiting for you…"_

"_I understand…" _Link said weakly as Hylia traveled back to the hellish paradox where he had failed. He turned his head towards the gate to see two figures. They appeared to be very similar to him…although one was much younger than the other.

Link stepped through the gate. Brilliant lights blinded the hero as he spiraled into the new world, disorientating him. Link's vision began to fade to black.

"_She failed to mention this part…" _Link thought as he lost consciousness. The lights faded, and the man's body smashed into a hard surface.

Hours passed before anyone traveling the city streets of the Castle Town noticed the collapsed heap of flesh unmoving in a dark alley. A young woman approached Link.

"Oh my…umm…hey!" the woman tried to capture the hero's attention. Link slowly regained his vision after the devastating journey.

"Who…are you?" Link gazed up at the woman, and started to blush. She was a true beauty, as true as Hylia. The crest on her hand began to glow.

"It's me Link…Zelda!" both looked down to the top of her delicate hand. The two looked into each other's eyes for a moment.

"We have to get out of here…they're coming!" Link broke his focus. He heard the monstrous screeches in the distance. It was a truly warm welcome to the new kingdom of Hyrule.

Link reached for his Dominion Rod, an ancient gift from Impa made by the Oocca tribe, after noticing a large decorative Dadango statue. The concrete monster served well in its mission to distract the zombie-like beings converging on the hero. Zelda and Link ran through the city gates into the plains until the danger had passed. The two gasped for air after the desperate run.

"Where did you get that rod?! And where have you been?!" the woman puffed up.

Link rolled his eyes and sighed, knowing the amount of explanation would be epic. He chuckled at the situation.

"So you are Zelda?" the woman looked absolutely mortified.

"What?! Of course I am! And I WAS in hiding until you decided to take a nap in the most dangerous place in the world!" Zelda grabbed a veil from her pocket.

"I suppose…the hiding is over…do you have the medallions?"

Link continued his light chuckle.

"Nope. I can explain….soo-."

"WHAT?!" Zelda's faced fumed red.

"…but you seemed so innocent a moment ago…" Link sighed again, then world started to shake.

"What's going on?!" Zelda and Link fell to the ground. The hero felt an unbearable heat scold his back, causing him to drop the Master Sword. The blade radiated intense energy, and glowed magma red.

"I…don't know."

/

**End of Chapter**

If any timeline sticklers are concerned about the appearance of the Dominion Rod with Skyward Sword Link instead of Twilight Princess Link, don't worry. I will explain it all in following chapters.


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